Sunday, September 8, 2013

Shadow Family Tree

Almost as long as I’ve been researching the Kelly family of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
I’ve known there was a parallel family—one sharing that same surname, which may
or may not turn out to be related. In my research files, this other Kelly
family grew into a shadow family tree—one I just knew would eventually turn out
to connect with our Kellys, but one for which I could never seem to uncover the
connecting root.

One of my first clues to this relationship, of course, was
when John Kelly Stevens’ wife, Catherine Kelly Stevens, died young. When I
finally found her grave site, I asked the cemetery staff who owned the plot.
That was how I discovered it was co-owned by her father, John T. Kelly, and that
other Kelly—Timothy Kelly.

Over the years, in accumulating local mentions of John Kelly
Stevens and his family, I’ve found several newspaper articles reporting him
working alongside another officer by that name, Kelly. Take this one, for
instance, from the Fort Wayne Journal
Gazette of June 5, 1907:

Patrolmen Kelly and
Stevens had one of the races of their lives early yesterday morning. They were
looking for two runaway boys and they ran across two lads on Barr Street who answered the description
of the runaways. As soon as the lads discovered the officers they ran and the
coppers gave chase. Patrolman Kelly caught his boy after a chase of many blocks
east, and Officer Stevens effected his capture after a run into Lakeside....

Who was this other Kelly family? With a relationship as
close as to jointly purchase anything—let alone a family cemetery plot—could
they just be friends who, coincidentally, shared the same, fairly common,
surname?

Of course, I couldn’t just sit there, wondering. Over the
years, I’ve toyed with the possibility, but, making little headway, set it
aside until the call beckoned me again.

Right now, that call is at it again.

Somehow, feeling as deflated about possibilities for success
as I’ve felt in the past, I don’t want to go through the process again.
However, remembering my rallying cry—that someone, somewhere, can now stumble
upon these posts via a search mechanism like Google™—makes me realize that, in
the case of the Timothy Kelly family, I need to practice what I preach.

So let’s take a look at what can be found about this
family—this family that may…or may not…be
related to our Kelly family.

The easiest part of finding out about this Timothy was
locating him in the 1870 and 1880 census.

While the printing has faded in the 1870 census, it is still possible to make out the names and ages of Timothy,
his wife Ellen, and each of their children. Their household, all Indiana-born, included nine year old Catherine,
seven year old Mary, two year old Andrew, and baby Timothy—who most likely
arrived in September of 1869.

Advancing ten years to the next census record showed
significant changes. While everyone was predictably ten years older—thankfully,
no handwriting fiascos or miscalculations muddied the record here—some were new to
the list, and someone was missing.

Two new children had arrived at the Kelly household: seven
year old son Richard and six year old daughter Deborah (listed here as Dabora).

Deborah must have been a babe in arms when her mother,
Ellen, passed away on September 27, 1875. Ellen died relatively young—at the age of
thirty seven. Whether it was in sympathy for the early death of the young
mother, or as a commentary on how well she was liked in her community, an entry in the Fort Wayne Sentinel on the day
of her funeral reported that

The funeral…was
attended by an immense concourse of people. Forty-seven carriages followed the
remains to their last resting place in the Catholic cemetery.

As for the “Patrolman Kelly” who “gave chase” along with his
partner, John Kelly Stevens, it most likely was Timothy and Ellen’s son, Richard.
As will be seen from later reports, Richard eventually rose to the rank of
Captain in the Fort Wayne Police Department, surely meriting him as many
newspaper entries as his (possible) relative-by-marriage, John Kelly Stevens.

Equipped with these records from the Kelly household on
Brandriff Street near downtown Fort Wayne, we can now trace our way along the
lines of descendant of this family’s children—and hope to find a distant cousin who
knows what I have yet to discover. Or, we can struggle to work our way
backwards in time, following Timothy’s line back to his homeland in Ireland, and
hope to uncover a connection between the two Kelly families there.

We’ll start first with the path of least resistance:
learning more about Timothy and Ellen and what became of them and their
children.

I'm actually already into the "decade" part, if you count the number of years I just shoved my notes into the Kelly notebook and ignored them. Funny you should bring up the Too Many Margarets syndrome. It is beginning to look that way, isn't it? And with that Irish naming tradition (which I'm not convinced always applies to Irish-American immigrants), I'm wondering whether another Timothy will surface shortly, playing the role of John's father. After all, his oldest son's name was Timothy...isn't that the name-after spot reserved for the father's father?

About Me

It is my contention that, after a lifetime, one of the greatest needs people have is to be remembered. They want to know: have I made a difference?
I write because I can't keep for myself the gifts others have entrusted to me. Through what I've already been given--though not forgetting those to whom I must pass this along--from family I receive my heritage; through family I leave a legacy. With family I weave a tapestry. These are my strands.